Exodus Strength

If you want multiple categories for training logs, propose how they should be split up.

I voted for more than one, but when I try to think about how they could be split up, I can't come up with anything decent. Intermediate vs Advanced? but then how does that actually breakdown? People who compete vs no plans to compete? Not sure if that's a meaningful distinction since there are plenty of people who have no plans to compete who are far stronger and more advanced than those new intermediates who want to compete. I don't know if I can come up with something useful.

I'll submit why I voted for "one".

Public logs are a learning tool. When separated, it's cumbersome to keep track of fellow lifters in various categories. Also, lifters will go from "novice" to "intermediate" to "competitive" to "just fucking around" at different times. But there is value in seeing the continuum. Separating them by arbitrary stages of the SRA cycle or whether or not you got a medal made of lead from china seems trivial.

The clearest distinction is between novices and beyond, but the question remains, how many novices will end up here.

Maybe this?

• Novices
• RPE
• % based

edit: Those don't have to be subforums. Maybe there is a way to categorize threads via tags. This way someone could go from novice to % to RPE back to %, competing, not competeng etc. There could also be a feature to filter these threads, and only have e.g. RPE+competing listed.

I voted for one.

I think it's helpful for people to rub shoulders regardless of their level of advancement.

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I voted for one as well. On the old board I followed people in different forums and it was just an annoying extra step to click back and forth between them to find the threads. Also, people who compete aren't always training for competition year round, and people who don't currently compete might choose to in the future, and novices don't stay novices for very long, so I don't like the splits by training advancement or competitive status. I think it's more helpful to have one log per person so you can go back and see someone's training history and how they progressed over time.

Also, first post!

omaniphil wrote:I voted for more than one, but when I try to think about how they could be split up, I can't come up with anything decent.

Hypothetically:
Serious lifters (just trying to get strong, whether competing or no)
Lifting primarily as training for other sports
DYEL section for the Mikeys of the world.

Personally, I think a Novice, Competitive, and Non-Competitive would do it. There are unique enough aspects to novice and competitive training that I/others might be interested in, and outside knowing who is who it would be difficult to actually figure out that Mikey is just getting (re)started while manveer is accumulating volume post-meet.

I voted one because rubbing shoulders and all that. I know on the old site I would tend to only view my fellow "Intermediate" loggers and miss out on some good reading in other categories.

BUT it would also be nice to be able to visualize some self-applied categories when viewing the list of logs. E.g. Novice/Intermediate/Advanced, Plan to compete or no, Elderly or no, Men/Women, Dedicated lifters vs DYEL, etc. Of course I have no idea of the best way to do this.

ETA: temporary flags like "rehabbing" would be cool too. Again, just being the annoying "idea guy."

This is what I mean: https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/exte ... opic_tags/

The idea of tags could be helpful.

I voted for one log area. We all pursue different programs all the time, and valuable information can be learned from others' experience.

On the old site, I mainly only read the intermediate logs, with an occasional venture elsewhere.

I'm also not going to start a second log based on whether I decide to compete or continue futzing around in my garage.

unruhschuh wrote:This is what I mean: https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/exte ... opic_tags/

I think that's an infinitely better idea than separate forums. Separate forums meant I literally never check some of them. It was a pita.

I'm still of the opinion that fewer forums means more participation per forum. You're more likely to contribute to threads you see in forums you regularly visit, while segregating into a million forums means you only visit a few.

Of course one would have to be able to change tags at any time.

I like the idea of one based on many reasons already given.

unruhschuh wrote:Of course one would have to be able to change tags at any time.

Agree. Also, only the OP should be able to change those tags.

I love the tags idea.

Questions:
- Are tags applied only by the thread starter? If not, can it be made that way?
- Can a tag be anything? Or are they restricted?
- Can they be removed and changed as needed?

Maybe a sticky in the training log section could include "encouraged" tags like Intermediate/Novice/Advanced, 20s/30s/40s/etc, Rehab, Competitive, DYEL, LP, TM, RPE...

ETA more tags: Powerlifting, Bodybuilding, Strongman, Cutting, Bulking

Root wrote:I love the tags idea.

Questions:
- Are tags applied only by the thread starter? If not, can it be made that way?
- Can a tag be anything? Or are they restricted?
- Can they be removed and changed as needed?

Maybe a sticky in the training log section could include "encouraged" tags like Intermediate/Novice/Advanced, 20s/30s/40s/etc, Rehab, Competitive, DYEL, LP, TM, RPE...

I think this is all a matter of configuring the phpBB plugin. There is also an option to whitelist / blacklist tags, but I like the idea of encouraged tags and otherwise let everyone choose their tags freely.

I voted "one".

My novice / intermediate / advanced / just-fucking-around status is always in flux. I don't like to start a new log every time I mutate my program.

I'm OK with a special place for the super-serious competitors, if they want one. But I expect they aren't training hard 52 weeks per year either.

Tags sound great especially if they can be updated by the thread starter to describe the current training.

Also I agree with Cody about endless subforums killing engagement. I have been to so many forums where there are like 30 different categories with only 5 posts in each one. Looks like a ghost town and doesn't make people want to join up or stick around.